The Binder's Game (The Sighted Assassin Book 1) Read online

  “Careful as you place it into her arm,” I said. Blood was already running through the reed. Much longer and it would drip out, wasting what Talia needed. “You’ll need to pinch the reed to control the flow.”

  The healer squeezed Talia’s arm and shook her head. “I can’t see the vessels. She’s lost too much.”

  I helped. With my Sight, I was able to see the contours of Talia’s arm and the way the veins protruded slightly. With a steady stroke, I slipped the needle into place and then took a seat back on the cot next to her. Blood started running from me and into her.

  The healer stood between us, her hand carefully holding the reed. “Tell me, Galen of Elaeavn, how an assassin learned this.”

  I hadn’t realized that she knew my name, but wasn’t surprised. That she served here, in the heart of Carth’s network, working to save these women, meant that she likely heard as many secrets in Eban as Carth. “I wasn’t always an assassin,” I said. I rested my head on the cot and let my eyes drift closed. Losing blood like this would weaken me and would take time for me to recover. It put me into a dangerous position, but for Talia, it was a risk I would gladly take.

  “You are well-known within Eban as a skilled assassin,” the healer said.

  I grunted. “Well-known may be stretching the truth.” And it would defeat the purpose of how I operated. I didn’t want to be well-known. I couldn’t achieve what I wanted, couldn’t be offered the right kind of jobs, if I was.

  “Perhaps in the proper circles,” she said.

  “And what circles are those?” I opened my eyes to see her studying me.

  “Those where it’s heard that a certain swordsman has taken to hiding in Hightown.”

  I stiffened slightly. I’d learned that Natash might have the support of Benahg, but not that he had actually taken to hiding with him. That indicated something more than support, and meant that perhaps the healer was right. Maybe I was well-known.

  I still didn’t know exactly where to find Natash. Even knowing that he had taken to hiding with Ben didn’t help. Hightown was a section of the city where I would have more trouble moving safely. The homes were larger, the inns less accessible. Even the rooftops were less hospitable, separated far enough apart to make them useless. Even once I discovered which home was Ben’s, would I be able to reach Natash?

  “The streets have been dangerous lately,” the healer went on. “Especially those around Shengard. As an assassin, I’m sure that you know the area.”

  I blinked slowly, fatigue from the steady drip loss of blood making me lightheaded. Was the healer telling me what I needed to know to find Natash? “I think I can find it.”

  The healer nodded. “You haven’t told me where you learned this technique.”

  “It’s not the first time,” I answered. “My mentor was injured and this was the only thing that could save him.”

  “Did he survive?”

  I nodded. The injury had changed him, not the blood. Isander had been hard before taking the sword to the chest, but he was also fair. The recovery had been slow, but after he came around, he had been almost cruel. That was around the time I decided it was time for me to move out on my own. Isander hadn’t stopped me; I’m not sure that he could have stopped me at that point, or that he wanted to try.

  Talia took a breath. It was weak, but she breathed.

  I nodded to the healer and she pinched the reed as I eased the needle from my arm. She pulled the other from Talia and handed the reed to me. I took the needles and wiped them off before replacing them in my pouch.

  The healer ran her hands over Talia’s arms and her neck, pulling up the dressing to check on the wound before replacing it. She pressed down on Talia’s jaw and examined inside her mouth before moving down her body. Satisfied, she stepped away.

  “How is she?” I asked.

  “She breathes. For now, that is enough.”

  When I stood, I rested my hand on the cot to steady myself. After something like this, I needed water and food. With enough time, the off-kilter sensation should pass, as it had passed when I’d been forced to do the same for Isander, though he had been even closer to death than Talia and had required more blood to survive.

  I took a turn at examining Talia and ran my hands over her with a familiarity I wouldn’t have dreamed having with her were she well. There is a certain detachment learned when you’re a healer, but that detachment is challenged when it’s your friend lying injured. Or your mentor.

  As I reached her waist, I checked the pulses in her groin as I slipped my hand into the pocket she’d placed the note. The folded piece of paper was still there, and I fished it out with the practiced pickpocket skill I’d learned from Isander. Had I not learned, I would have ended up jailed several times already.

  “You will stay with her?” I asked the healer.

  “We stay with all who lay here.”

  “Send word when she awakens.” I didn’t bother telling her how to find me. With the Binders, I suspected they would know how to find me. And if they didn’t, I trusted that Talia would.

  I started away, holding onto the cots for stability as I weaved through, stopping and leaning on the door for a moment. The woman standing guard glanced at me but made no effort to stop me or offer to help. I hadn’t expected either.

  The hall leading back to the stairs and out to the street was darkened. For a moment, my Sight failed, leaving me in shadows before I realized that I had simply closed my eyes. I took a forceful breath and snapped my eyes open, holding one hand on the wall as I passed. I should have taken more time to rest before attempting to leave. Studying with Isander had taught me the effect of blood loss. I knew what I needed to recover, but I preferred not to do so in a place where I would be so exposed.

  No one stopped me as I reached the upper levels, or attempt to slow me as I stepped out into the street. I shuffled along, my eyes feeling heavier than I remembered from the last time I had given blood like this. My mind moved slowly, as if in a fog. Even my Sight failed again.

  There came a shuffling sound behind me and I reached for a dart as I turned. I was too slow and a shadow appeared in front of me. I couldn’t see anything, couldn’t tell who it might be, but flicked my dart. I heard it hit, but too far away.

  I’d missed.

  I sprawled to the ground, my legs kicked forward. I tried to open my eyes, but couldn’t. My mouth felt dry and I spat, trying to work moisture into it. The effect was much like coxberry.

  “Carth,” I whispered.

  A shadow stopped in front of me. I noted the bitter scent with floral undertones that mixed with her heat. “Galen of Elaeavn.”

  I tried to sit up, but my body didn’t respond. “You poisoned me,” I said.

  Strong hands lifted me from the ground and carried me. “Did I? I don’t seem to recall doing so, but then again, there are a great many things I don’t recall.”

  I thought through how they could have poisoned me. The healer could have placed something into the reed as she pinched it, but doing so would have led to enhanced effects. Whatever happened had been delayed. Could they have set something on the cots or along the walls? I doubted that, Otherwise, those who came for healing would have similar reactions. I couldn’t think of anything I might have touched…

  The folded piece of paper.

  “It was coated,” I said.

  Carth moved swiftly, and I wondered if she intended to bring me back into her hospital.

  “A safety measure,” she said. “Ensures that only those intended would open it.”

  “How was she not affected?” My words began to slur. In moments, I would be out until the effect wore off. I knew from experience that it would take me about half an hour to recover from a typical dose of coxberry.

  “Are you sure she was not?” Carth asked.

  I grunted. It was the only sound I figured I could make.

  Carth leaned her face close to me and spoke in a whisper. “We’ve built a tolerance.”

&nb
sp; My mind worked, but slowly. If Carth and those within her Binder network had built a tolerance, that made it unlikely to be coxberry. I’d used it against one of her women, and she’d been out for nearly thirty minutes before recovering. That meant something else.

  The bitter scent on Carth’s breath took on new meaning. Had my mind not been affected, I could work through what they used, but I was beginning to struggle with remembering why Carth would have attacked me.

  “Don’t worry, Galen of Elaeavn. You will be home soon.”

  13

  Faint light filtered through a dirty window as I blinked my eyes open. My body ached, and I didn’t know if that came from lying on the hard floor or from whatever I’d been poisoned with. Many toxins left a general achiness behind, some worse than the actual poisoning itself. I still felt tired, but rolled over and forced myself to sit.

  “How long was I out?” I asked. I had smelled Carth when I came around and knew that she was still with me.

  “Evanshaff oil lingers for nearly eight hours,” she said.

  My body shook slightly. Evanshaff wasn’t found anywhere near here and was rare enough that I’d only used it a few times. From working with Isander, I remembered the effect of the oil. It worked much like coxberry, but was slower and could be absorbed through the skin. I could see how the paper could have been coated with evanshaff, and could appreciate why the Binders would use it. Were one of their notes stolen, whoever had taken it wouldn’t get very far before the oil would penetrate the skin.

  “I can see that you’re familiar with it,” she said.

  I shrugged, and looked around. I wasn’t surprised that Carth had brought me to my home, or that she had somehow managed to get inside in spite of everything that I’d done to make just such a break-in difficult.

  “You have an interesting collection here, Galen of Elaeavn,” Carth said.

  She stood near the table I used to create my darts and mix the oils used in them. Three shallow shelves atop the table held my collection. Some I harvested on my own, while others were purchased from the local apothecary. It limited me to more creative uses for some common herbs, but then again, Isander had trained me well.

  “More interesting than it had been,” I said. Without Carth’s coin, I would have been even more limited. With her gold, I’d been able to order terad, my preferred powder, and one I could mix into water or oils and load my darts. Terad didn’t grow around Eban and importing it had proven expensive, but I hadn’t found a suitable alternative. It worked quickly and had only a few known antidotes.

  “Yes, I hear that you’ve been busy.”

  I breathed out and stretched. “Tell me, Carth, to what do I owe the honor of your visit?”

  She turned away from my table. Carth was a tall woman, and lean, and moved with strength and grace that was nearly animal-like. She smiled at me in a flash of teeth. “I think it was you who visited, Galen of Elaeavn.”

  “I didn’t know where else to bring her.”

  Carth tipped her head. “And even with our healers, she would not have survived without your sacrifice. You continue to surprise me.”

  “She is a good woman,” I said.

  “Not a lover?”

  I shook my head. “Talia? No. She is only a friend.”

  “She knows what you do?” I nodded at the question. “Does she know that I am in the city?”

  I knew better than to lie to Carth. Likely she’d know if I did. “She knows.”

  “And how does our game go?”

  The sudden change of topic was dizzying, especially with the lingering effects of the evanshaff. “For now, you hold the advantage,” I said. I didn’t know how long Orly would allow that to remain. I suspected he worked to change that as quickly as he could.

  Carth chuckled, a deep, throaty sound. “Do you believe that, or is that what you think I want to hear?”

  I managed to stand and leaned on my knees for support. “Why are you still here?”

  “You object to my presence?”

  Carth was one of the few people in the city I’d met who had not struggled to stop me. When Orly had assigned me the task of capturing her, I had thought it a simple task. Only later did I learn how difficult that would truly be, and how much more skilled Carth was compared to me.

  “Let’s not call it an objection, only that I know better than to think you’re here for my benefit.”

  “I would not have you perish in the street.”

  I grunted and made it to the window and pushed it open. Fresh, cool air pressed out the stale air from inside the room and I took a deep breath, feeling somewhat more invigorated. “How is she?” I asked. I assumed that since Carth knew what happened to Talia, and assumed that in the time that I’d been out—especially if it was up to eight hours, as she said—that she would have learned whether Talia would recover. The blood should have helped by now.

  “She will survive.”

  I took another deep breath and nodded. “Why was she attacked?”

  “That is not of your concern,” Carth said.

  I turned to her. “No? She was carrying something given to her by a woman in the Brite Pot and was attacked moments after leaving me, left to die in the street. What would have happened had I not come across her?”

  Carth stood in front of me. She radiated warmth and the bitter scent I now knew to be evanshaff. “She would have perished. Why is it that she did not?”

  “Because I was there.”

  “Yes. Do you think that chance?”

  I had, but now I had to wonder. “Are you saying I was meant to find her? How would anyone have known that I would bring her to you for healing? How would anyone have known that there would have been anything to be done?”

  “Excellent questions, Galen of Elaeavn. Do you think it chance that you were attacked only the day before?”

  My mind still felt as if it were stuck in mud, the lingering effects of the evanshaff holding me back. Why had Talia been attacked? Random attacks weren’t unheard of within Eban, but it didn’t make much sense that Talia would have been attacked so suddenly after leaving the tavern. It could have something to do with what she carried, but then, that had still been in her pocket. Was there another possibility that I might have missed?

  Could Natash have attacked Talia to get to me?

  “What are you implying?” I asked.

  Carth studied me and then tipped her head toward the window. “The days grow cooler. This weather does not suit me. Soon I will be moving on.”

  “That’s no answer.”

  “Isn’t it? I think I’ve given you all that you need to know.”

  I wasn’t convinced, but then, I didn’t really expect a full answer from Carth. And if Natash were responsible for Talia, I knew what I needed to do next. “Where will you go?”

  “Where I am needed.”

  “How many cities have a network of Binders like Eban?”

  Carth offered a smile. “You do not think Eban is unique?”

  “I think you are unique, Carth, but I don’t think that Eban is. That’s what Orly wants, isn’t it? He wants access to your women.”

  Her eyes darkened. “He doesn’t want access, he wants control. There is a difference.”

  That fit with what I knew of Orly. He was not one to be satisfied knowing that the network existed, especially if they posed a risk to him and his plans. “Would you grant him access were he to ask?”

  “There is a price to what you describe.”

  “And what is the price?” I was beginning to think this the real reason that Carth had come to me. She might have been interested in seeing me to my home, but had she only worried about my safety, any of her healers could have brought me back into her hospital and set me onto one of the cots there until the evanshaff wore off. She had brought me to my home, had revealed a secret of the Binders as if to provide warning, and then had remained. I’d learned that Carth didn’t do anything by accident, but what intent did she have?

  Was
this all a part of the strange game that she played with Orly? And how did I fit into it? She’d once called me a piece in a game of Tsatsun, one that was expandable. Somehow I had to maneuver myself into a position where I wasn’t an expendable piece. Orly viewed me as hired help, and Carth had already shown that I wasn’t someone she feared, regardless of how much she claimed to respect my skills. And now she spoke of a price to access the Binders.

  “You would have access?”

  “Do I have need of what you know?”

  Carth smiled. “In your line of work, there is always a need for information. Do you not think so, Galen of Elaeavn?”

  There would be, and it would make me even more valuable to Orly if I were able to use what he could not. He would have incentive to keep me around, but I wasn’t sure that I wanted him so incentivized. Knowing Orly as I thought that I did, he would likely make a point of keeping me even closer than he did now. At least now I had a choice of whether I would work with him.

  “There is always value in knowledge,” I said.

  “See? You have more than Sight. You have insight.”

  She started toward the door to the small room and pulled it open. Just beyond the door, the floor dropped off, leaving a gaping hole. The apartment was set atop an abandoned tavern near the edge of town, a place where fire had burned out the main levels, somehow leaving the upper levels intact. Only those willing to climb could make it here. I was not surprised that Carth had managed to, or that she had carried me up to the room.

  “How will I gain access?” I asked. That was the question Carth expected of me, and I would comply.

  “Are you certain you don’t already have it?”

  Then she jumped, disappearing into the darkness below.

  14

  The streets in Hightown were wider than other places in the city. The shops weren’t any newer, but the paint on their signs was, leaving the appearance of wealth. The air was more fragrant, a mixture of baked bread and sweets, combined with the bright perfumes of cut flowers. People moved with a purpose, all dressed more brightly than in the outer sections of the city.